Bottled water is a scourge for the environment
They pollute, endanger the oceans and cost more than tap water. However, we continue to produce them on a massive scale.
Here is the impact of plastic water bottles on the environment.
It is an integral part of our daily lives... Each year, a European drinks on average 117 liters of bottled water, the equivalent of a bathtub.
But above all it has a considerable impact on the environment. For one bottle produced, 33 centiliters of oil are necessary to manufacture plastic. Three liters of water are used to produce a half-liter bottle. However, bottled water is 180 times more expensive than tap water.
Another problem: 42% of plastic bottles are not recycled in Europe. Most often, they end up in landfills and in the oceans where they take between 100 and 1000 years to degrade.
While 20,000 units are produced every second around the world, plastic bottles are among the most common waste items found on beaches.
Health side:
Plastic bottles release endocrine disruptors into mineral water. They could have health effects, even at low doses Mineral water from plastic bottles contains twice as many hormones (female or male) as that stored in glass bottles or tap water. In other words, plastic releases what are called endocrine disruptors into the water. Their effects at very low doses are still very poorly understood, but they are suspected of modifying development and sexual and reproductive functions in humans. The study conducted by two German researchers is published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Source Le Figaro Santé
Arithmetic problem: knowing that a plastic bottle takes more than 500 years to degrade , how long will it take before we change our eating habits? The recycling ? In the United States, 40% of PET bottles recovered in 2004 were processed... in China! In France, the reprocessing of plastic bottles is around 20% . When incinerated, the bottles release numerous toxic pollutants (chloric acid, heavy metals, dioxin,) which will certainly improve the overall quality of the water...!
